Gone
by KarmaBear2050
Summary: Luke sees Annabeth before the great battle, and he asks her to run. Needless to say, it doesn't go so well.


"Annabeth."

That voice. It was haunting her again. His voice. It wouldn't let her be. She couldn't stop thinking about him until when she was with that stupid, completely ridiculous, totally oblivious son of Poseidon. Percy was another weak point, she realized that. He was becoming a liability to her, just like Luke and she didn't know what to do about it. But it was too late for her to push him away now. They had been through too much together.

"I'm here under a white flag. Well, actually a white grocery bag on a stick. And it's pouring out here, so...well, it might be gone soon?"

Annabeth spun faster then she could process it. Next thing she knew, she was on top of a blue eyed son of Hermes with her -his- knife at his throat. Rain was pouring and she knew she was saying something but she couldn't keep up with it. She felt like she couldn't hear herself, like her words and the rain and the rest of the world were outside of a bubble that just she and Luke were in.

"Enemy. He's the enemy." A voice that was cold and familiar -and very unwanted at that moment- whispered coldly in her mind. It jerked her out of her dazed state and she found herself gasping for air.

Luke had been under her the whole time, and she hadn't even know how long it had been. He stood up then, pulling her up and he extended his hands to place them on her shoulders. She let him.

"It's okay, it's okay." He whispered against the pouring the rain, his voice making her feel like she was seven again and like he was promising...

"No, no it's not." She pushed him away, her heart pounding wildly, "I'm not a kid, Luke. I'm not falling for any of that again." Her knife was up now, and she hated -gods, she really hated- the look on his face. It hurt too much. He looked like his universe had just been crushed.

"Annabeth." He shifted and she noticed the garbage bag on his shoulder. She lowered her knife reluctantly, much against her will. "I'm sorry." He sounded so sincere, so very sincere that she almost wanted to believe him. But wasn't that how Luke always sounded when he wanted to?

She shook her head slightly. He continued in a soft voice, "I know, I know alright. I didn't-I don't expect you to believe me about it, okay? I just wanted to ask if you would come with me."

Annabeth couldn't help the bitter laugh that escaped her, she couldn't help her vision blurring more then even the rain made it. "No, incase you haven't noticed, I chose what side I was on a long time ago, Luke. I don't plan on abandoning the people I love and letting them fall into the pit of-"

"Not to join him." Luke said darkly, cutting her off before he had to hear more. It was all too much, he couldn't take much more. He knew that. He didn't even have much time before...

"Then what?" Annabeth found herself feeling somewhat hopeful now. For what, she didn't know. But she also knew she didn't have a reason to trust the boy standing in front of her. He might look like Luke, he might sound like Luke, but he wasn't _Luke_. He was a bitter, cruel thing and he had been the reason Thalia had nearly died and all her friends, let alone herself.

"Let's run," he said. His eyes were unwavering as he met hers, his desperation evident. When she said nothing, he continued, "Just the-just the two of us, it'll be like-"

"Thalia," Annabeth cut in. "Why not Thalia? It wouldn't be like old times without her, Luke." Her voice was icy, she didn't bother trying to change it.

Luke sighed, looking down. "Annabeth, she's gone. She would kill me if she saw me, she almost did last time I saw her."_ And you wouldn't._

"You were trying to kill us," Annabeth said.

"No, no Annabeth." Luke was shaking his head, "I tried to save her. I wasn't going to-" He stopped, shifted on his feet, "I was wrong, and I'm sorry. There isn't any excuse for any of the things I've done that could even begin to be valid. And I am really, really sorry Annabeth. But, I'm..." He exhaled through his mouth, "I'm a goner. Unless we leave, we could run and I could show you that I'm like I used to be now. Please," he needed her. She could hear it in his voice. He was the seven year old, on the run from the darkness. She was him.

"I don't make promises I can't keep." She wouldn't be him. Part of her wanted to ask him if would really be...gone. But wasn't that ridiculous? He was the enemy, he was the one she had to take down. If he were a goner it would be because her blade had run through him.

"Ann, please."

When he got no reply, he closed his eyes and nodded slowly. They stood there for a few moments, then. Rain drops hitting the ground constantly, sheets of rain flying by them. They were both drenched, Annabeth's eyes were tearing up and she finally gave in and let herself cry.

Luke opened his eyes, "I love you. I have and always will love you even if I am damned." He said this very deliberately, and he looked into her eyes. He took one of her hands into his before she could resist. "The next time you see me, I won't be like this. I won't be me." He was speaking urgently now, like he was running late. "Annabeth, do you understand?"

She shook her head, "Luke," she couldn't bring herself to acknowledge that he could change, she knew that now. He was Luke. He was her Luke. He couldn't...

"Do you understand?" He asked, his voice shaking her with its rawness.

She nodded almost imperceptibly, and his jaw set. "Good. I need you to promise you won't hesitate to-" He swallowed, his eyes wide. What he meant was obvious. "Promise, please."

"I-I can't do that." Her voice was shaking.

"You have too, if you love me at all you will. Please, Annabeth. I'm so sorry." He just kept saying he was sorry in his soft, broken sounding voice. She couldn't help but cry even more, and it was all she could do to stop herself from falling into his arms.

It was a long time before the rain stopped and she realized that she was alone, sitting on her porch with a white plastic bag by her feet and an envelope on her lap. Her knife...it was in its sheath at her side. Feeling both bleary and unsettlingly alert, as though she had woken from a nightmare, she looked around.

"Luke?"

There was no answer, and she knew there wouldn't be one. He was gone, and the next time she would see him...

"I don't make promises I can't keep," she whispered to the noiseless night.


End file.
